professional Word account from a retired job expired now can't use any Word documents only in Read mode

As alternatives to Word for the web, you can buy Office 2024 with Outlook or without Outlook. These versions do not have Copilot and there are no subscription fees after the purchase.

Or you can download Libreoffice at no cost. It has good compatibility with Office file formats.

Hello @Kim Johnson

Based on your description, it is likely that your work account has been disabled by your company, which caused your license to become invalid. When an Office or Microsoft 365 subscription is no longer valid, the desktop apps (such as Word) will still open documents, but they only allow viewing (read‑only mode), and editing is blocked until a valid license is assigned and activated.

To regain the ability to edit Word documents on your Mac, you will need a valid Microsoft 365 or Office license that includes the desktop Word app, and then sign in and activate Word with that account.

Another simple workaround, if you need to use Word urgently, is to use Word for the web by going to word.cloud.microsoft then choosing Upload and selecting the file you want to edit. This allows you to continue working on your documents even without an active desktop license.

However, please note that since this is the web version, some features may not be fully available compared to the desktop app. If you require the full functionality of Word, you will need to activate it with a valid Microsoft 365 or Office license.

Hope this info helpful.

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